


Sharing

by ani_bester



Category: Invaders (Marvel), Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Big Brother, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Friendship, Gen, Grieving, Loss, Orphans, Trains, World War II, discussing death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-20
Updated: 2014-06-20
Packaged: 2018-02-05 12:28:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1818538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ani_bester/pseuds/ani_bester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Toro is miserable on a train and Bucky opts to open up to his fellow Invader (a little) to try and make things better. . . before reverting to big brother shenanigans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sharing

“Hello matchstick!” Bucky said as he flopped down next to Toro in the cramped train compartment. He spread his long legs across the seat and stretched his arms, brushing his fingers across Toro’s shoulder as though it weren’t there. Usually on Namor’s plane, Toro would fight back, pushing Bucky away and laying claim to space with his own gangly limbs. Today though, he said nothing as he scooted across the leather train seat, out of Bucky’s way. 

“You ok?” Bucky asked, raising an eyebrow

“I’m fine.” Toro shifted, turning his back to Bucky and slumping down in the seat, arms wrapped around himself. 

“You are the palest looking ‘fine’ I have ever seen.” Bucky moved to poke Toro, but withdraw. He could feel heat radiating off Toro’s skin. “Ok, you are not fine, spill, Diapers.”

The use of Jim’s embarrassing nickname provoked Toro enough that he turned around, mouth drawn into a tight line. But after a few tense seconds, Toro shrugged, turned, and went back to looking blankly out the window. “I just don’t like trains.” 

Bucky snorted and began to make a joke, but for once, he brain worked faster than his mouth. He bit at his lip a second, then shrugged. “Yeah well, I don’t like Ovaltine.”

Toro turned around again, and Bucky could feel the compartment growing hotter. But he’d be old and dead before Tom “I have fancy powers looks at me” Raymond intimidated him. 

“I had made myself some the afternoon dad died.” Bucky felt the train compartment grow cooler and took that as a cue to keep going. Leaning back, he stretched out and rested his feet on the seat across from them. 

“See, I’d gotten in trouble that morning, but dad had to go before he could punish me, so I figured once he got home I wouldn’t be having any Ovaltine for a long time.” Bucky felt his stomach churn at the memory, but slapped on his ‘poster boy’ smile before the cracks showed in his expression. “I made something like four glasses; Becky said she was gonna tell on me, but I was already in heaps of trouble, so I kept making ‘em.” Bucky turned to look at Toro again. 

“ I was on the last one when they came and told me about Dad. I put on a good front- I suppose-but as soon as the brass left, I ended up throwing all that Ovaltine up in the bathroom. It’s just never been the same after that.”

Bucky slumped in his seat and looked over at Toro. His fake smile of a fearless, perfect hero that didn’t exist faltered, and Bucky wiped at his eyes before he embarrassed himself. 

“So” Bucky near shouted as he draped his arm around Toro’s shoulder. “You don’t like trains and I don’t like Ovaltine.”

He could feel Toro trembling against him and considering pushing the conversation, maybe asking Toro what he remembered, or offering memories of his own, but he couldn’t quite push the barriers down enough for something so intimate. 

Instead he flicked Toro on the nose. “Want me to go find Jim?” he asked. 

Toro nodded and gave him a small smile. “Would you?”

Bucky flung himself off the seat with more energy than necessary, and kicked open the compartment door. “Hey Jim!” he screamed through the whole train car. “Diaper pants needs you!”

He laughed, hearing the shouted curse as he made sure he had a good head start before Toro came bursting out of the compartment after him. 

**-End**

**Author's Note:**

> Ovaltine is a powdery chocolate milk type substance and it was the sponsor for little Orphan Annie around the time Bucky would have been a kid. Sorta the same as chocolate milk but I liked the sound of Ovaltine better.


End file.
